Hotel transportation:1. MRT Line 2 Gongyuan Qian Station, Exit: D2. Take Airport Express Line 5 to the Haizhu Square Station (2nd stop), then take Bus No.10 or No.183 to the Da Nan Lu Station to get to the hotel or take a taxi to the hotel within 10 mins. 3. Taxi to the hotel directly, which cost about CNY120 one way

24 Dec 10 City tour in Guangzhou attractions ep. 1 1. Yuexiu park (Opening Hours 06:00 to 22:00)Yuexiu Park is the largest park in downtown Guangzhou. Covering an area of 860,000 square meters (212.5 acres), the park is made up of three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain; hence the name Yuexiu Park. Yuexiu Park is a perfect combination of cultural relics and ecological tourism, reputed for its pretty water and hills as well as cultural relics. The main places of interest include the stone sculpture of the Five Rams, Zhenhai Tower, the site of the Ming Dynasty City Wall, and Square Cannon Site.The Five-Ram Sculpture is one of the most famous structures in Guangzhou. It has become the emblem of Guangzhou City. Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Guangzhou was a barren land with people who despite hard work were suffering from famine. One day five immortals in five-color garments came riding on five rams, playing their legendary music. The rams held sheaves of rice in their mouths. The immortals left the sheaves of rice for the Guangzhou people, gave blessings to the city and left. The rams turned into stone and the city of Guangzhou became a rich and populous place. Guangzhou got the name of the City of Rams and the City of Ears.Zhenhai Tower, better known among the locals as the Five-Story Tower, is one of the landmarks of Guangzhou city. An interesting historical record has it that Zhu Liangzu, Yongjia Marquis of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), saw yellow and purple air rising over Yuexiu Mountain and was told by a sorcerer that it was the omen of a new emperor. To subdue this omen, Zhu Liangzu ordered this tower to be built in 1380. Over the past 600 years, the tower has been destroyed five times and set up five times. Now it is the Guangzhou Museum, housing relics and documents showing Guangzhou's history over 2, 000 years. Known as the first tower in Lingnan (South of Nanling Mountain) Area, Zhenhai Tower now is 28 meters (91.9feet) high and 16 meters (52.5 feet) wide. The striking contrast of green glazed titles and red walls makes the tower elegant. While the historical traces create a serene environment, singing birds and exuberant plants add vigor and natural beauty to the park. Three artificial lakes -- Dongxiu, Nanxiu, and Beixiu-- cover an area of more than 50,000 square meters (538,213 square feet). Dongxiu Lake and Nanxiu Lake are tranquil and elegant, inviting painting and sketching artists. Beixiu Lake, surrounded by trees, is open for boating and fishing. What's more, the lakes are connected with arch bridges and decorated with pavilions and corridors in the Lingnan Style. Flower exhibitions are held here from time to time. For nature lovers who can't get to the faraway countryside or forests, Yuexiu Park is an optimum choice with modern conveniences. As a large comprehensive park, Yuexiu Park provides an amusement park, swimming pool, gymnasium, restaurants, stalls, museum and art museum besides plant and flower viewing area. All visitors find pleasure in Yuexiu Park.Tips: There are five gates to Yuexiu Park, namely the Facet, East, West, North and South Gates. There are many buses at each gate with Metro Line 2 arriving at Facet Gate.Admission Fee: freeTransportation: - Take Subway Line 2 to Yuexiu Park Station. Get out from Exit B1 to the main entrance of the park. - Take Subway Line 1 to Gongyuan Qian Station then change to Line 1 to Yuexiu Park.

2. Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum (near by Yuexiu park) Located on Jiefang Bei Road, Guangzhou, the Western Han Dynasty Nanyue King Mausoleum Museum is the oldest and largest Han tomb with the most funerary objects in Lingnan (South of the Nanling Mountain) Area. As one of the 80 famous museums in the world, the museum covers 14,000 square meters (150, 699.6 square feet) with 10 exhibition halls. The owner of the tomb is the second king, Zhao Mei of Nanyue State of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-24 A.D.). Hidden 20 meters (65.6 feet) underground, the tomb is made up of 750 huge stones with colorful murals. The over 1,000 pieces of cultural relics, bronze ware and terra cotta ware in particular, feature the Yue Culture of south China(Nanyue Culture). Represented also are traces of central Chinese culture, the Chu culture of south China, the Bashu culture of southwest China, the Hun culture from the northern grassland, and even foreign cultures.Highlighting the mausoleum is a silk-jade garment made up of 2,291 pieces of jade. Though jade garments with pieces connected by gold, silver, or copper are not uncommon, this garment with jade pieces connected by silk is the only one of its kind in the world. Nor are historical records available to verify other jade garments connected by silk thread. In addition, the style of buttons down the front is unique among unearthed jade garments. This silk-sewn-jade garment shows the early development of jade garments as well as development of the Nanyue culture. In addition, three sets of bronze serial bells, thirty-six bronze vessels, thirty-six bronze mirrors, and three gold seals give visitors a glimpse of the ancient Nanyue Culture. The oldest and largest folding screen used in China is also here, as are two of the world's oldest bronze patterns for textile stamping. Foreign articles excavated in the mausoleum indicate that Guangzhou was an ancient Marine Silk Road starting point. For example, there are five African elephant trunks, a silver box featuring Western Asian silver wares, and bronze incense burners and frankincense from Southeast Asia.Admission Fee: CNY 12Opening Hours: 9:00 to 17:30 (Stop selling ticket at 16:45)Museum Guide Service: 1. The museum provide guides, charging CNY50 every time. 2. Audio guide (English, Japanese, French, Germany, Spanish) is available, costing CNY10 per person. Refundable deposit of CNY200 is necessary.Transportation: Take Subway Line 2 to Yuexiu Park and then get out from Exit E.

3. Dr.Sun Yat-Sen Memorial hall (Opening Hours: 08:00 to 18:00)(near by Yuexiu park) Situated on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, was constructed between 1929 and 1931, a monument to Dr Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution, by the people of Guangzhou and overseas Chinese.The hall, a grand octagon building of typical Chinese architectural style, looks brand new because of reconstruction in 1998. The masterpiece of architecture history is created with a span of 71 meters (about 78 yards) without a pillar but significant outlooks and delicate interior designs. As an important place for conferences and performances, it can hold thousands of people with sound equipment. In the hall there is also a display gallery showing pictures and letters of Sun Yat-sen.The oldest ceiba in Guangzhou City grows in the hall, like a centuries-old man, witnessing great changes of this city; besides, you can also have a chance to see the two biggest white jade orchid trees of Guangzhou. A bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen was set up in 1956 in front of the memorial hall. Stepping on the monument by a steel spiral staircase, you are presented with a panoramic view of the memorial hall.Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall will refresh you after visiting the bustling commercial metropolis and provide you with a moment to touch this great man in Chinese history.Admission Fee: CNY 5, CNY 10 (Through ticket)Recommended Time for a Visit: 45 minutesTransportation: Take Subway to Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

4. Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family Also called Chen Clan Academy which is a place both for offering up sacrifices to ancestors and for study. Now the Chen Clan Ancestral Temple in Guangzhou City, the Ancestors' Temple in Foshan City, the former Residence of Sun Yat-sen in Zhongshan City and the Opium War Memorial Hall in Dongguan City are regarded as the four major cultural tourist sites in Guangdong Province.In the late of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a man named Chen got the third place in the highest imperial examination and had conferred upon him a distinguished office title which made the Family Chen well-known. Later someone suggested that all the Chen's families raise money to build a temple to sacrifice to the ancestors and encourage their offspring likewise to study hard. Therefore, the temple was finished in 1894 with the money donated by Chen's families in 72 counties of Guangdong Province as well as some overseas members of Family Chen. The temple is a compound complex consisting of nine halls, six courtyards and nineteen buildings connected by corridors, all separated by walls from the outside world. A pair of stone drums in front of the entrance door, measuring 2.55 meters (about 8.36 feet) in height and two colored drawing pictures of door-god of four meters (about 13 feet) height are said to be the best in Guangdong.The compound was constructed in the traditional Chinese symmetrical style and the main hall, the Juxian Hall is in the center of the temple. Juxian Hall was once a place for clansmen to assemble before the establishment of the temple and now it is used as an ancestral hall. In front of the hall is a stone gazebo surrounded by stone balustrades. In the hall there is an exquisitely carved folding screen which is an excellent example of woodcarving.The most impressive attractions in the temple are various superb carvings extolling nature. They are in the forms of wood, brick, pottery, stone, lime and things like that, of which wood carving especially fully demonstrates the great achievements of the art of carving in Guangdong Province. Stories of historical celebrities and scenes are also vividly represented in the temple.

5. Shamian Previous known as Zhongliusha or Shicuizhou, is an elliptic sandbar in the Liwan District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese. Surrounded by water, Shamian is just like a giant ship mooring alongside the wharf. Get further and one will find that the island is carefully planned. Three east-west avenues, Shamian North Avenue, Shamian Avenue and Shamian South Avenue, and five north-south streets, Shamian Street 1 to Shamian Street 5 divide the whole area into 12 parts, with various buildings, namely White Swan Hotel, Shamian Hotel, and Poland Consulate in Guangzhou, scattered around.Shamian Island has great historic significance. From the Song and the Qing Dynasty, Shamian Island served as an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade. Shamian became a strategic point for city defense during the second Opium Wars (1856-1860). In 1859, the territory was divided into two concessions, given to France and United Kingdom (of which 4/5 went to the British and 1/5 to the French). It was then embanked and provided with streets, drainage, and imposing buildings and became home to a prosperous foreign enclave. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, most of the public facilities were finished, including political buildings like consulates, cultural buildings like churches and schools, as well as commercial buildings like banks and firms. After 1949, the mansions of Shamian became government offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned into factories. But later they were restored, in many cases to their former splendor. Each building has a label telling its former purpose. One may start to imagine what stories these building held while viewing the plaque writing about its previous function. One example is "No.7 North Shamian Avenue" which was built during the Republican period and was formerly the Administration Bureau of Broadcasting of the Nationalist Government. The mansions in Shamian form the best preserved Western Europe style building complex in China. Forty-two out of 150 buildings are counted as the most exotic ones, Gothic, Baroque, and Neoclassical, in Guangzhou.Since the early 2000s, Shamian Island has become well known for many Western couples who reside there, seeking to adopt Chinese babies and young children, most of whom are orphaned and female. In particular, the White Swan Hotel, adjacent to the Consulate of United States in Guangzhou in Guangzhou and convenient to file paperwork and handle bureaucratic matters, has become a hotel of choice. Shamian is a good place for a stroll. As it is just 900m long from east to west and 300m from south to north, one will not feel tired even after walking around the island twice. Dues to traffic control on the island, Shamian showcases a different atmosphere and pace of living. Problems such as traffic jams and exhaust gas pollution don't exist here. Now partly reserved for pedestrians, its broad boulevards are like long gardens topiaries. A line of bars and cafes on the southwest side with views over the Pearl River serves modern expats.